


Passing Notes

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Banter, F/M, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 10:29:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6654391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Claudia Jean...you freak."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Passing Notes

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to Chatting.

Red, 

I have been distracted all day with thoughts of you running your fingers through my hair last night. I always hated that until now. Whenever you touch me, I get tiny sparks of electricity through my whole body. 

L 

CJ smiled, folding the piece of paper and putting it in the cigar box she stole from Toby. It had been four weeks since Leo and CJ discovered they had been having a relationship in cyberspace. To the surprise of them both the transition from the Internet to the real world was smooth. They could not get enough of being close to one another. Whenever there was a free moment they had dinner at Leo's suite or watched a movie in CJ's apartment. They loved to play backgammon and Trivial Pursuit. Talking for hours on end about their lives, where they had been and where they wanted to go. Still, they had not made love yet and Leo was eager. 

Walking into his outer office, CJ smiled at Margaret. 

"Is he in?" she asked. 

"No. He's in the Situation Room. Do you need something CJ?" 

"I just want to leave a message on the desk. Is that OK?" 

"Yeah." 

"Thanks Margaret." 

She grabbed a piece of memo paper from the senior assistant's desk and scribbled something down. 

L, 

Won't be able to do that tonight L. Friday is looking more in your favor. I can't wait. 

Red 

She left it on his desk and headed back for her staff meeting. 

***

At 11:30 the Senior Staff sat down with the President to discuss the events of the next couple of weeks. 

"This is the time to praise Canadians for universal healthcare." Toby said. 

"I agree." Josh replied. 

"But you have to dial down the rhetoric sir." Sam said. "Americans do not want to hear that they are wrong." 

"Do I have a tendency to make people feel less intelligent than they are Sam?" the President asked. 

"Never me sir." 

"Ashton is a friend." The President said of the Canadian Prime Minister. "This trip is diplomatic and I do not want to make it overcomplicated. What's next?" 

"I am getting a lot of questions about the Vice-President and the donations to the NRA." CJ said. 

"Hoynes has his own Press Secretary." Leo said. "Filter everything back to him. Next." 

As Josh talked about Kent and Baxter jumping ship on the foreign aid bill Leo found a scrap of paper falling into his lap. How did she do that without everyone seeing her? He opened it and tried not to smile. 

L, 

Do you like honey? I absolutely love honey; it has a superfluity of ingenious uses. Let me know what you think. 

Red 

He dropped a note on her legal pad as the meeting ended. 

Red, 

Are you trying to give me a hard on in front of the President of the United States? I'll get you back when you least expect it...I promise. 

L 

"Leo?" the President called before his Chief of Staff got to the office door. 

"Sir?" 

"Can we talk for a moment?" 

"Of course. Is something the matter?" 

Jed Bartlet cleared his throat. He looked at his best friend for a long time, raising his eyebrow. 

"Mr. President?" 

"Are you seeing someone?" he finally asked. 

"I'm sorry sir?" 

"You heard me, please don't make me repeat it. You know that typically I don't pry..." 

Leo could hardly hide his smirk. 

"Sir that is certainly a personal question. Anyway there is plenty of work to do around here. None of us has time for personal lives. If you hadn't noticed Toby is in the middle of a divorce." 

"I'm only asking because..." 

"Because you cannot resist knowing everything. I have met someone sir, alright. It's new and I don't want to talk about it just yet. That's all I'm saying." 

"Fair enough." The President held up his hands. "Is this woman anyone I know?" 

"I believe you don't listen to me when I talk. If there is nothing else, I have a lot of work waiting for me." 

"Go." 

"Thank you Mr. President." 

***

"I certainly don't like the idea of going into the pressroom and being smug." CJ said. 

She sat on Toby's couch and crossed her legs. 

"I'll say we have foreign aid in the bag and then we get slammed. The President will look weak and I will look like a buffoon. I am really sick of looking like a buffoon." 

Toby nodded. 

"Why are you looking at me that way?" she asked. 

"You look different. I don't know how but you do. Are you working out, or taking minerals?" 

CJ shook her head. 

"The lifecycle three times a week like always. I have been drinking more water. How are you feeling Tobus?" 

"Please don't call me that." 

"Seriously. I am here for you if you need to talk. I'm sure you don't, but I am also here to drink vast amounts of alcohol, stare into space, and contemplate autocracy in pre-WWII Prussia." 

Though he fought it, Toby smiled. 

"Yeah, something is going on with you. I can read you better than anyone." 

"Yeah? What am I thinking right now?" 

Toby squinted his eyes. 

"Claudia Jean...you freak!" 

CJ burst out laughing. Bonnie stuck her head in the office. 

"Toby, Congresswoman Wyatt is on 3." 

He looked at CJ who stopped laughing but still had the smile behind her eyes. Toby wished he could bottle that and carry it in his pocket. 

"Take the call. I will be around." 

CJ walked out of the office. Toby sighed, telling Bonnie to close the door and put the call through. 

***

The phone rang and CJ picked it up. 

"CJ Cregg." 

"Have you ever made love outside?" the caller asked. 

"I'm sorry?" 

"On a picnic blanket, warmed by the sun. Skin pressed on skin. The mingled smell of sweat, your perfume, and his sexual arousal. Tasting salty skin and crying out when he kisses the right place..." 

"My God." She sighed. 

"Your legs wrapped around him as he thrusts inside you, crying out your name. CJ, oh God Claudia Jean, I can't get enough of your body. What are you doing to me? The sound of your heart pounding and the birds singing above you." 

CJ slumped in her chair, rubbing the back of her neck. Suddenly she was sweating. 

"This is wrong." She said. 

"His mouth is so hot on your skin but his teeth send cold shivers down your spine as he tastes every bit of you...biting his favorite spots. Actually, I don't think there is anything more right." 

"So, was that a fantasy or a reality?" she asked. 

"The decision is yours. I have to go." 

"Bye." 

She hung up the phone, taking a couple of deep breaths. Her whole body felt warm and drinking coffee was not going to help. CJ needed an alcoholic beverage, and a cigarette. 

***

"Leo, you dropped..." 

The Chief of Staff didn't hear the President as he rushed off to meet with Mark Richardson and the Black Caucus. Jed carried the folded note back into his office with him, humming My Way. After ten minutes of reading about the predicted path of several hurricanes, he could not take it anymore. He unfolded the note and read it. 

L, 

I know how to do something with my tongue that will make you forget your name. And wait until you see what I can do with my legs. By Monday you will be a different man. 

Red 

The President's eyes widened. OK, so Leo definitely had a woman in his life. A woman who was an acrobat of some sort. Her codename was Red. His first instinct said Margaret...the assistant spent an exorbitant amount of time with her boss. But Jed knew Margaret's handwriting and this wasn't it. Then he thought of Jenny. It was possible Leo and his ex-wife were getting together for strictly carnal purposes. That didn't seem like Leo though; he was not the hit and run type. Of course how did Jed know that? He and Leo talked about everything but that. 

It was a tiny note...most likely locally delivered. Could he be having an office fling? That didn't seem to be in his nature either. And red did not have to mean redhead. The President did not know what else it could infer but he listened when Sam and Josh talked. This generation said all kinds of things that made no sense to him. 

Feeling guilt for invading Leo's privacy, Jed folded the paper like he found it. He got up from his chair, went into Leo's office, and left the note on his desk. Hopefully he would think he left it there before his meeting. Jed knew if asked about it there was no way he could lie to Leo's face. 

"Oh, Mr. President." Margaret walked into the office. "I didn't expect anyone to be in here. Leo had a meeting with Mark Richardson. Is there something I can help you with?" 

Lying to Margaret would not be hard, even if he had never been very good at it. Jed put on his best folksy grin. 

"I need the telephone number for Tom Borden...I thought Leo had a rolodex on his desk." 

"No sir, we do it all electronically now. I have it in my computer." 

"Great, thank you Margaret. I'll be in my office." 

"Yes sir." 

Jed rushed back through the door as fast as his feet would take him. He had no idea who Tom Borden was, only that he heard his name more than once over the past couple of days. He hoped he did not just ask for the number of Abbey's GYN or the Senator from Nebraska who wanted a flag burning amendment. 

***

"Hey, does that thing still stand?" 

Toby walked alongside CJ as she came out of her five o'clock briefing. In an hour and a half, barring national or international crisis, she was putting the lid on. She looked at him. 

"Wanna be more specific, mi compadre?" 

"Something about vast amounts of alcohol and pre-WWII Prussia." 

"Mmm hmm." 

They walked into her office. Toby stood in the doorway as CJ rifled her desk. She smiled when she found the note. She looked back at Toby. 

"We'll go to Mr. Smith's; I can walk home from there." 

"That is great for you...how am I going to get home?" 

"You're staying with me." She replied in a matter of fact tone. 

Toby really loved her matter of fact tone. 

"CJ..." 

"Oh cut it out. I am not going to molest you in your inebriated state. Don't be a baby Toby; we have spent the night together before." 

"Shh. Don't say that so loud. Josh hears everything." 

"Yeah. We'll meet at nine and head down." 

"Yeah. Thanks CJ." 

"Don't be silly. Now get out." 

Toby gave a small smile as she threw his words back at him. Once out of her eyesight, CJ opened the note. 

Red, 

You are so damn sexy and so bad. Pretty soon you will have to put your money where your mouth is. I can hardly wait. 

L 

Oh yeah, neither could she. 

***

It poured on Friday morning...CJ hated hurricane season. She and Toby trudged into the office, together but not together. She smiled a greeting to Donna. 

"TGIF." The younger assistant said. 

"Tell me about it." CJ replied. 

If she could just make it through the day without wanting to wander through open traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue. There was champagne, strawberries, honey, whipped cream, lingerie, candles, and an econobox of Trojans waiting in her apartment. She also pulled out Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Ella Fitzgerald for the occasion. Leo loved that music; Duran Duran would just kill the mood. 

"Hey Carol, could you dig me up two painkillers of some sort. The stronger the better." 

"Yeah. The wires are on your desk. So is the President's Canadian itinerary." 

"Thanks." 

CJ went into her office, hung up her coat and collapsed in her chair. She and Toby drank a lot last night, almost closing down the bar. Their conversations ran the gamut, though she never talked about her new relationship and he said nothing of Andi. By the time they left it began to drizzle. Luckily it was not too chilly for the six-block walk back to CJ's apartment. They held hands, trying to look and feel as sober as possible. 

"Do you want to talk?" CJ asked. 

"What the hell have we been doing for the past couple of hours? I am getting a divorce CJ...there is nothing else to say." 

"If you're hurting I want to be there." 

Toby looked at her. He did not want to talk about it, but he knew her well enough to know that would not stop her. 

"I saw it coming for the past two years. It wasn't exactly a surprise." 

CJ nodded, squeezing his hand. 

"You feel something don't you Toby?" 

"Don't be ridiculous. You're fucking up my drunken state of deflection CJ." 

"Sorry. Its just holding it in can lead to bleeding ulcers...at the very least constipation. You have to take that seriously." 

Toby just started to laugh. He laughed so hard that there were tears in his eyes. That joyous rumble coming from his diaphragm made CJ laugh, and she let him have his deflection. 

Carol came back into the office with pills and a glass of water. 

"What's this?" CJ asked, holding a folded note in her hand. 

"Advil...250 mg apiece. I think you might be feeling better by Senior Staff." 

"Doubtful, it's in a half hour. Thanks Carol." 

"Yeah." 

She walked out of the room and CJ opened the note. 

Red, 

I cannot wait to see you tonight. How will I be able to control myself around you all day knowing what we'll be doing tonight? I cannot be blamed for any mishaps today. 

L 

CJ ripped off a piece of paper from the small pad on her desk to write a response. 

L, 

If you exercise restraint today, you have my permission to lose all control tonight. Let's see how good you really are. 

Red 

Game, set, match. 

***


End file.
